Dakar, Feb 23 (APS) – The Single Union of Teachers of Senegal (SUDES) “strongly recommends” unity and cohesion in the ranks of trade unionists, for a “victorious” outcome of their demands, following “a systemic vision” of the problems and of their solutions which would not treat masters and contract teachers as “poor relatives” of the system.
“For the essential revision of the compensation system of the Public Service, struck since 2006, with the seal of inequity and injustice towards teachers, the trade union movement in the education sector is currently engaged in this which must be called the “mother of battles”, notes SUDES in a statement sent to APS.
The union refers to the strike started several weeks ago by the G7, a coalition of the main unions in the education sector in Senegal, the Unitary Framework of Secondary School Teachers (Cusems).
There is also the SAEMS (Autonomous Union of Secondary School Teachers), the Union of Free Teachers of Senegal (SELS), the Democratic Union of Teachers of Senegal (UDEN), among other central bodies.
The striking unions are calling on the government to apply the memorandum of understanding signed by the two parties in 2018, which mainly concerns the improvement of teachers’ remuneration, through the increase in the amount of several allowances (housing, allowance for teaching or control and supervision).
“For SUDES, the victorious outcome of what seems to be the “final assault” for the benefit of all teachers, lies in unity of action on the ground and around the negotiating table where, in addition, the Expertise and lucidity are required”, reads the statement made public by this union.
“In this respect, we also read, our union strongly recommends to all, particularly union leaders, unity and cohesion out of respect for the fundamental principles of solidarity, equity and justice which are the bedrock of trade unionism” .
The SUDES thus warns the government “against any temptation to ignore the sacrosanct principle of equity in terms of compensatory allowances in the salary treatment of the various teaching bodies”.
He believes that “approaching problems and their solutions with a systemic or even holistic vision is a requirement for doing well in the education system”.
“In this context, insists the union, we must not forget or treat as poor relations the MCs and the PCs”, contractual masters and professors “who are certainly transitional bodies but because of administrative delays, they remain for a long time more than raison”.
He warns that “any failure to respect the necessary balance between the bodies by rationalizing the differences, can only cause and maintain deep frustrations which will undoubtedly be the nourishing sap of future disturbances in the short or medium term”.
“However, after decades of recurring disruptions of increasing magnitude and duration over time, the public education sector badly needs lasting social peace and stability to regain the confidence of populations who also want to have of “the public school of success”, argues the SUDES.
At the end of the last rounds of negotiations with the government, the unions received several proposals relating in particular to the tax exemption of the housing allowance, the teaching allowance and the supervision and supervision allowance.
According to the Budget Minister, Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo, the impact on public finances of the various government proposals to the unions amounts to a total of 90 billion CFA francs.
The two parties have planned to meet on Thursday, in the hope of removing the last sticking points so that the teachers are brought to lift their call for a strike.
The Head of State, reacting to the disturbances caused by this strike, had wished, in the Council of Ministers, that the actors of the school take care together to “guarantee the continuity of the lessons, the respect of the timetable, as well as the evaluations scheduled, in accordance with the school calendar.
Macky Sall had also asked the government “to ensure the security of school space and the lasting anchoring of a constructive and responsible social dialogue in the education system”.